A New Year

What an exciting time the coming of a new year is. You have time to reflect on the past 12 months and what you have accomplished and set goals for the new year.

Every year my husband Roger and I make a list of goals that we want to accomplish for the year. We keep this list on our refrigerator and mark each one off as we complete them. This is a great way to keep yourself focused on what you declared as important for the year.

As 2009 closed we were so pleased at how much we accomplished this past year. We set out to add an additional 1800 square feet to our exsisting garage. My husband loves antique cars and needed more space in which to work. Below is how much we accomplished this year on the project. I must say that we are almost finished. Siding, doors and a car lift and we are done. He has worked very hard this year to build it himself with the help of our oldest son Roger, Jr.

We started the year with just the concrete slab poured. So above is where we began 2009.

Slowly but surely we pushed on with many, many hours of hard labor from both. Occasionally a little assistance from myself, mom, and dad. But of course I don't do heights, so I'm a grounds helper. hehe.

December 31, 2009 below is where we are now. The orange dot is my husband standing in front of the garage. He is so pleased with how it is turning out. This is one of the coldest days we've had, and of course I waited until late to go out and take pictures.

Amazing what you can accomplish when you set goals and keep them in front of you. Oh and by the way, we did this debt free. We saved for each part and completed it. So his garage is already paid for!! He likes that most of all.
I also had time to quilt 6 projects this past year, since working on the garage we decided to take a staycation this year instead of going somewhere. We put the money we would have spent on a vacation into the garage building fund. I got to quilt for 6 days!! I had a blast. My mom also spent most of the week here with me, we loved being able to sew and play all day. I ordered food out and didn't even have to worry about cooking. NOW THAT IS A VACATION!!!

In October I treated my mom to a quilter's retreat at the Quilter's of South Carolina Retreat at White Oak. We loved it. It was the first time that mom and I had been on a quilting retreat. We took the messenger bag class with Pat Kerko. We completed a messenger bag, a large tote bag and 3 cosmetic bags. I learned how to do zippers, which is a big deal for me (I am not a seamstress). We both hope to be able to do the retreat again this year.

One of my goals this year is to be able to be at my quilting bee every Friday that we meet and to learn more about my longarm machine and become more proficient at quilting with the longarm.

Many blessings to all and Happy New Year.

Shelia